Apparatus for raising the bottom components of blanks for forming folding boxes



June 18, 1968 H. GOBEL 3,388,641

APPARATUS FOR RAISING THE BOTTOM COMPONENTS OF BLANKS FOR FORMING FOLDING BOXES Filed Nov. 15, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 18, 1968 H. GOBEL 3,388,641

APPARATUS FOR RAISING THE BOTTOM COMPONENTS OF 'BLANKS FOR FORMING FOLDING BOXES Filed Nov. 15, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 4

United States Patent APPARATUS FOR RAISING THE BOTTOM COMPONENTS OF BLANKS FOR FORM- ING FOLDXNG BOXES Hans Gobel, Dusseldorf, Germany, assiguor to Jagenberg- Werke AG, Dusseldorf, Germany Filed Nov. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 507,910 Claims priority, application Germany, Dec. 15, 1964,

7 Claims. (Cl. 9349) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for raising and folding over the leading flaps of successively fed, fiat foldable box or carton-forming blanks in which such blanks are advanced with the flaps which form the bottom of the carton in a leading relation and including folding means having a shank portion and a hook-shaped portion mounted to oscillate into and out of a position below the leading edge of an advancing flap, to be engaged by such edge to be lifted by such flap, and resilient means normally urging such folding means to such position and frictionless holding means, such as magnetic means in the path of movement of such shank portion at a position spaced from said hookshaped portion to hold the folding means in such position until engaged by the next succeeding flap.

The present invention relates to apparatus for box manufacture and, more particularly, to apparatus for raising the components for constituting the bottom of blanks provided for forming the so-called folding boxes wherein such bottom components are located in front of the direction of movement of the box blank by means of a hook assembly adapted to be operably related to the bottom components by extending into the path of movement of the blanks for raising the bottom components relative to those portions of the blank which constitute the side walls thereof.

In the manufacture of paper, cardboard or the like, cartons or boxes embodying the so-called folded bottom, namely, boxes provided with closure flaps for the bottom of the box, which flaps automatically define the bottom when the cross-section of the box is being opened, special means are required for incorporation with the box adhesive mechanism which raise and fold over the bottom components of the box. It has been known in the art to utilize for raising such bottom components located in front or in advance of the direction of movement of the preliminarily scored box blanks hook assemblies which project into the path of movement of the blanks. In such situations, the control of the upward and downward movement of the hook assemblies in synchronization with the operation cycle must be such that the hook assemblies can lower or drop into the gap or hiatus between two successive blanks and can engage from beneath the blank the leading edge of the components which will constitute the bottom of the box. By virtue of the variable feeding speeds and sizes of blanks, a positive and synchronized control of movement of the hook assemblies involves considerable expense insofar as movement control and drive techniques are concerned and, moreover, involves further expense due to the necessary adjustability of the apparatus for varying blank configurations and sizes as well as different operating speeds.

For the above reasons, it has been suggested to control the upward and downward movements of the hook assemblies, which assemblies are preferably constituted by pendulum-type levers, by means of the blank per se in such a fashion that upon the leading edge of the blank striking the hook assembly the upward movement thereof "ice causes the bottom component of the blank to be raised and thereafter, upon the downward movement of the hook assembly, such upwardly raised bottom component is folded over the main portion, so to speak, of the blank. Following the aforementioned raising and folding operations, the hook assembly contacts the main portion of the blank and slides along the upper surface thereof until the hook assembly can drop into the gap or hiatus between two forwardly moving blanks for initiating the following operational step.

Experience has demonstrated that due to the rapid upward and downward movement of the hook assembly which is necessitated by the fast feeding of the box blanks, the hook assembly by reason of its relative hard impact with the upper surface of the main portion of the blank at the termination of its downward movement, has a tendency to bounce away from the upper surface of the blank and, as a consequence, cannot enter the gap between succeeding blanks. By reason of the foregoing action, the raising operation cannot be effected on the next following blank which, of course, creates problems in the further processing of the blanks.

The applicant has solved the problems existing in the field by bringing the hook assembly which has been moved in an upward direction by being struck by the leading edge of the components constituting the bottom of the box following its resiliently supported downward movement into the effective zone of holding means which will maintain the hook assembly in its ready or operative position until the hook assembly is struck by the next blank.

A particularly eflicaceous frictionless holding means is defined by a permanent or electromagnet which, at the termination of the downward movement of the hook assembly, holds the hook assembly in such terminal downward position and prevents any bouncing movement of the hook assembly relative to the main portion of the blank. In utilizing an electromagnet, it is further possible to energize such magnet in synchronization with the operating cycle and it is further possible to provide a pneumatic holding means for the hook assembly by the employment of suction means fuctioning either automatically or in timed sequence in conjunction with a suction producing source via a magnetic valve means.

The invention further comprehends the concept of incorporating stop means operably related to the swinging or upward and downward movement of the hook assembly about a fixed point of rotation with one of the stop means constituting a fixed lowermost position of the hook assembly and the other the upward movement of the hook assembly, with this latter stop means being capable of adjustment. The fact that the upper stop is capable of adjustment means that the speed of the swinging movement of the hook assembly relative to the speed of feed and the size of the blanks can be readily adapted to suit the particular requirements involved.

Furthermore, the holding means, such as the magnet, is located in an adjustable manner between the point of pivoting of the hook assembly and the stop which limits the lowermost or downward position of the hook assem bly with this adjustability making possible the changing of the effective lever arm of the hook assembly for facilitating the adaptation thereof to the thickness or dimensions of the blank material from which the box is ultimately formed. The hook assembly per se is preferably flexible so that the free end thereof which extends beyond the holding means is by virtue of its own resilience moved or displaced into the hiatus between two forwardly moving blanks.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description and annexed drawings in which a pre- O ferred embodiment of the invention is fully disclosed and illustrated, and in which drawings:

FIGURES 1-5, respectively, show diagramatically the indivdual steps for raising the forward portion of a blank, the views being partly in elevation and partly in crosssection, and

FIGURES 68, respectively, show diagramatically various modes for adjusting the holding means for the hook assembly wherein such holding means is constituted by a magnet.

Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that a folding hook assembly denoted generally 1 is constituted by a pendulum-type lever 1a which is provided at one end thereof with a hub 11, which hub is mounted for free rotation about a fixed axis of rotation denoted 2. The opposite or free end of the lever 1a includes a hook portion 3 which is displaced angularly in a downward direction from the lever 1a. A tension spring 12 embraces a portion of the periphery of the hub 11 and the opposite end of the spring is attached fixedly as shown at 13 to a support 10.

As shown in FIGURE 1, in the lowermost position of the hook portion 3 such portion extends into the path of movement of a box blank 4 provided with a forward portion 5 which constitutes a part of the bottom of the completed box. The blanks are disposed between upper and lower conveyor belts 6 and 6a which feed successive blanks through the adhesive machine of the assemblage. A stop 7 is stationarily located between the lower belts 6a and such stop is utilized for limiting the extent of downward movement of the hook portion 3 of the lever 1a. The amount of upward movement of the lever 1a is limited by means of a stop 8 associated with the support and which stop is mounted for vertical adjustment in an elongated slot 9 formed in the support 10. Furthermore, a holding means which is disclosed as a permanent magnet 14 is mounted for rotary adjustability relative to the support 10 and, by virtue of such adjustable mounting, the etfective length of the lever 1a as well. as the attractive action of the magnet 14 can be changed and this adjustable characteristic can be readily appreciated from the showings of FIGURES 6-8, respectively.

In advance or forward of the stationary stop 7 there is provided a fixed folding flange 15.

While the mode of operation of the present invention is believed to be readily apparent from the above description, the operation may be summarized as follows:

Referring initially to FIGURE 1 wherein it will be noted that the lever arm 1a of the hook assembly 1 rests with its hook portion 3 on the stationary stop 7, upon the leading edge of the portion 5 of the blank 4 engaging the hook portion 3 which extends in the path of movement of the blank, it will be seen that the forward movement of the blank overcomes the attractive force of the magnet 14 and in opposition to the action of the spring 12 displaces or moves the lever arm 1a in an upward direction thereby initiating the raising of the portion 5 of the blank. Upon further forward movement of the blank, the lever 1a and portion 5 reach the position shown in FIGURE 3, wherein the portion 5 of the blank is located approximately perpendicular to the portion 4 of the blank, after which by reason of its own weight and the action of the spring 12, the lever 1a moves downwardly (FIGURE 4) until the lever makes contact with the magnet 14. In this latter positon, as illustrated in FIGURE 5, the end portion 3 slides on the upper surface of the blank 4 while the bottom portion 5 is completely folded over the blank 4 by means of the folding flange 15. The book assembly 1 is maintained in the aforementioned or ready position by the action of the magnet 14 until the end portion 3 can, by virtue of the resilience of the lever 10, drop into the next following hiatus between two blanks whereupon the apparatus again assumes the relationship disclosed in FIGURE 1 for the initiation of a new operational cycle.

The invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity to the showing in the drawings, but changes or modifications may be made therein so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for raising the bottom components of blanks located at the front of the blanks in the direction of movement of the blanks along a predetermined path comprising folding means including a shank portion and a hook-shaped portion mounted for swinging movement upwardly and downwardly about a fixed axis relative to the blanks, spring means normally biasing the shank portion and thus the hook-shaped portion down: wardly into the path of movement of the blanks with the bottom component of a moving blank upon engagement with the hook-shaped portion moving the folding means upwardly against the action of the spring means until the bottom component is moved toward the main body of the blank whereupon the spring means biases the folding means and thus the hook-shaped portion down.- wardly into the path of movement of the next successive blank, and frictionless holding means located in the path of downward movement of the shank portion at a position spaced from said hook-shaped portion for holding the folding means in the latter position until the hookshaped portion is engaged by the bottom component of the next succeeding blank.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said holding means is constituted by magnetic means.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which said magnetic means is a permanent magnet.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claimZ in which said magnetic means is an electromagnet.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including adjustable stop means for limiting the upward movement of the folding hook means and stationary stop means for limiting the downward movement of the folding hook means.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the holding means is adjustably mounted between the fixed axis of the folding hook means and the stationary stop means.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the folding hook means is defined by a flexible lever having a free end projecting beyond the holding means so that the free end is moved by its own resilience into the gap between successively moving blanks.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,899,872 8/ 1959' Labombarde 93-49 2,953,314 9/1960 Voll 188-164 XR 3,285,144 11/1966 Frei 93-49 BERNARD STICKNEY, Primary Examiner. 

